MELVIN “NO MERCY” MANHOEF SIGNS WITH STRIKEFORCE

Posted on | December 2, 2009 | No Comments

NEW YORK (Dec. 2, 2009) – DREAM and K-1 powerhouse Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef has signed a multi-year agreement to compete for world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE.

The 5-foot-8, 33-year-old, who hails from Amsterdam, Netherlands, comes to STRIKEFORCE after reaching the semifinal round of the 2008 DREAM Middleweight (185 pounds) Grand Prix tournament by scoring first round TKOs over Dae Won Kim and legendary champion Kazushi Sakuraba on May 11, 2008 and June 15, 2008 respectfully.

His well-known battle cry “When I fight, I am willing to die” has translated into Manhoef’s explosive style of fighting, one that has helped him earn 22 of his 30 career MMA wins and 27 of his 45 career kickboxing victories by knockout.

On Feb. 26, 2005, Manhoef initiated his best run to date, a 10-fight win streak in MMA competition, by stopping Matthias Riccio at Cage Rage 10 in London, England with a series of strikes in the first round (3:01).

Amongst his victims during the stretch were Ian “The Machine” Freeman and Crosley Gracie, both of whom Manhoef stopped in the first round with strikes. Manhoef was crowned Cage Rage champion on Sept. 10, 2005 after scoring a 51-second knockout with punches over Brazil’s Fabio Piamonte in London.

Asked on short notice to serve as a replacement in a heavyweight matchup with knockout artist Mark Hunt at the annual New Year’s Eve “Dynamite” extravaganza in Saitama, Japan last year, Manhoef obliged and, despite being at a tremendous weight disadvantage, crushed the Samoan fighter with an onslaught of punches a mere 18 seconds after the opening bell rang.

Manhoef’s career in K-1, the world’s premiere stand-up fighting league, dates back to Feb. 24, 2002. During his tenure with the Japanese promotion, he has triumphed over the likes of former K-1 tournament champions Stefan Leko and Ruslan Karaev, whom Manhoef flattened with a left hook only 31 seconds into their meeting in Amsterdam on June 23, 2007.

Born in Suriname, Manhoef relocated to Rotterdam with his family when he was three years old. He was introduced to the sport of Muay Thai by his brother and, at age 18, won his first bout.

About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.